Hampton Irrigation & Lawn

04/27/2026

11/25/2025

Did you miss the K-State Hort Club poinsettia sale? Here’s your next opportunity to support local horticulture education while stocking up on poinsettias.

11/08/2025

🥶 FREEZE WARNING for Saturday and Sunday night. Do not run your irrigation system over these nights unless you want to impress your neighbors with an ice palace in your yard.

If all plumbing on your irrigation system is below grade (below the soil surface), your system remains protected through this short period of freezing weather.

On our end, this past week was spent winterizing irrigation systems particularly sensitive to freezing. Winterizing services will resume on Monday.

Dont forget to remove hoses from all hose faucets.

11/05/2025

Worth posting again because winterizer fertilizer is an often misunderstood application. Timing is everything. It’s still too soon to apply, yet I’m seeing some proceed regardless. Fertilize now, and you’ll be pushing top growth yet this fall- not the desired outcome.

This fall season has brought disparate conditions, from drought to beneficial rainfall, combined with unseasonably warm temperatures and no deep freezes. Landscape maintenance requires flexibility, especially in scheduling the final turf fertilizer application. Typically, multiple deep freezes would have ceased turf growth by now. However, precise timing is vital this year for applying winterizer fertilizer to optimize turf root carbohydrate storage, bolstering winter resilience and enabling early spring green-up. Applying too early can promote vulnerable top growth and reduce stored nutrients for next spring, highlighting the need for timely application.

10/31/2025

2025 marked the inaugural offering of our season-long systemic protection against armyworms, a proactive measure driven by Manhattan's history of armyworm infestations in two of the preceding four years. Contrary to the long-held notion that armyworms cannot be prevented, our thorough research and collaboration with peers in the lawn care industry enabled us to devise an effective prevention plan. Consequently, we launched a preventative application option, which yielded exemplary results, as clients had no lawn damage whatsoever, despite yet another armyworm infestation this growing season.

09/01/2025

The temporary fence just came down!

I spent this past summer working to renovate the playground turf at Manhattan Catholic Schools over to bermuda. Historically this area has been nothing but weeds and bare soil. The solution was for a bermuda reseed. This accomplishes a few things:

✔️ Bermuda is durable and will tolerate heavy playground traffic. It will also heal itself. No more bare soil.

✔️ The time to renovate bermuda (if needed) is over the summer months, coinciding with the period when school is out. If this were fescue, there would be no good time to renovate the turf without having to keep kids off it for an extended period during the school year.

✔️ Bermuda needs less water compared to a fescue lawn once established.

This renovation started off with rehabbing an existing (non-working) irrigation system with all new core parts. The lawn was tilled and seeded just days after school ended last spring. Bermuda germination occured around mid-June. From there the turf was cared for in a way to promote building density required so the school kids could have their full playground back this fall. It’s not perfect, but overall the stand of turf is a bit better than I had expected for just a few months in. Work will continue for further improvement next summer.

08/16/2025

Fall Armyworms are still around the area. They’ll continue to be around until the cold associated with late fall finally exterminates them.

It takes about a month between their generations. Be on the lookout for egg clusters around your property. If you see any, there is time to treat your lawn to prevent damage before these rascals hatch. Yes, contrary to what some other companies have been posting, you can prevent armyworm damage, but it takes a specific insecticide.

They aren’t too picky where they’ll lay eggs, but often times it’s easy to spot them on structures and fence posts. They’ll also lay egg masses under leaf surfaces or near the base of plants, but eggs on plant material are very difficult to find.

08/09/2025

Fall Armyworms have arrived in Manhattan. They've actually been here for a week or so. I've just delayed posting anything about them because, well...."here we go again." This is getting old in regards to armyworms and what has become an annual concern.

Every year in early June I seek out reports as to where the annual migration of Fall Armyworms from the Gulf of Mexico stand. Based on those reports this year, it seemed inevitable we'd get hit again. I posted the warning several weeks ago, and now the army of worms have marched right into Manhattan.

So, here's what you need to know:

If you're a client and opted in the preventative application which was an upgrade over the traditional grub control application, you're in good shape. I applied the insecticide at near the highest label rate in order to provide you with the longest residual control possible. This should provide protection going into the fall.

If you didn't opt for the upgraded application, don't fret. Keep an eye on your lawn for any signs of armyworm activity. I'd recommend a quick inspection at least once daily. Get to know your lawn. This will make it a little easier to spot irregularities. Refer back to a video I posted on the Hampton Irrigation & Lawn page on how to catch these boogers in the early stages BEFORE your lawn is "seemingly destroyed overnight." That said, it's going to be a bit harder to scout for the early signs of armyworms this year due to all the prevalent brown patch fungus and recent abnormal dry conditions we are in. Contact me if you notice any areas of concern in your lawn.

So where have they been?
At this time the hardest hit areas are around Stagg Hill and extending north to University Heights/Miller Ranch. Also, neighborhoods adjacent to cropland east of Manhattan are being hit with armyworms. Having said that, they really can be anywhere and no one should feel safe from them.

I saw on the news that a lawn will recover in a couple days from armyworm damage...is this true?
Depends on the severity of damage and the number of armyworms present. Given my experience with them, if you have them, and do not treat for them, you're lawn will be toast. It won't recover in a couple days...or even a couple months. You'll have to overseed your lawn in the fall. However, if you catch them before the real extensive damage occurs, and get them treated, your lawn will recover on it's own.

So I got hit with the armyworms, and Ive treated my lawn, what else should I do to help the lawn recover?
Water the lawn regularly, more so than you normally do. August tends to be a hot and dry month so this supplemental watering is paramount to a stressed lawn. Do not apply any fertilizer on the lawn during this time. Fertilize the lawn in September. If areas are not recovering by early to mid September, you'll need to consider overseeding the lawn or just the areas of damage before mid October.

07/15/2025

🐛 GUESS WHO’S BACK? 🐛

Ugh, again…right? As I predicted, fall armyworns are certainly becoming an annual pest. We had no major cases for decades. But then 2021 happened, and again, but not as severe, in 2024. And now armyworms are back feeding on lawns in Kansas this summer. They were in Wichita last week in numbers enough to cause alarm. There have also been a few reports of damage a bit north of Wichita. A week before they hit Wichita, lawn companies were battling armyworms in southwest Arkansas and central Oklahoma. This means we could see them any day now as they continue to migrate north - they could easily already be here…and probably are.

Clients which took advantage of the upgraded grub control application from Hampton Irrigation & Lawn will be protected from armyworm damage going into fall.

Didn’t opt for taking preventative measures? Don’t worry. Reality is, damage DOES NOT happen overnight. Armyworms are present several days before the catastrophic damage occurs. The trick is spotting the signs of armyworm activity early. I created a short video on what to look and have it posted on this page (somewhere). I’ll upload it again shortly.

Of coarse, should you not want to fool around with keeping an eye on your lawn, a systemic insecticide with long residual can be applied to protect your lawn from armyworms (and other pests too).

05/07/2025

Clouds and the threat of looming rain made for a gloomy day, but progress on the never ending punch list was still made. My pace slows on days like these (for whatever reason). I took these pictures today of a couple properties I help maintain. Landscapes generally always look great in spring! Can summer never come? 🫠